Chapter 230: The Abandoned Estate

The Imperial Intelligence Bureau launched its operation against the abandoned estate shortly before dawn.

The property stood several hours outside the Imperial Capital, surrounded by woodland and farmland that had fallen into disuse.

According to official records, its last owner had died seventeen years earlier, leaving behind considerable debts and no immediate heirs.

Yet investigators had discovered that someone continued paying for the estate’s maintenance, including regular deliveries of food, laboratory supplies, and expensive magical equipment.

The purchases had passed through several companies, but the payments ultimately originated from an account connected to Edmund Falkenrath.

Inspector Laurent had little doubt that the estate concealed something worth investigating. Whether Matthias Reinhold was still there remained uncertain, although the recovered correspondence suggested he had used the property in the past.

The Imperial Guard surrounded the estate before sunrise. A smaller team of investigators accompanied them with warrants authorizing the seizure of documents and the arrest of individuals connected to the Cult of the Second Dawn.

Laurent had ordered his men to secure every possible exit before entering. The massacre at Saint Aurelia had demonstrated how dangerous desperate researchers could become when given time to prepare, and he had no intention of allowing another group to destroy evidence or endanger innocent people.

Fortunately, the occupants were caught unprepared.

The guards stationed near the entrance surrendered after a brief confrontation, while several researchers attempting to escape through a service passage discovered that Imperial soldiers had already secured the surrounding grounds.

Within an hour, the main building was under government control.

Investigators recovered financial records, research correspondence, and several containers holding experimental materials. However, Matthias Reinhold wasn’t among those arrested, and the laboratory’s administrator claimed that the missing scholar had departed nearly a week earlier.

Laurent ordered his officers to verify the statement while continuing their search.

Their efforts eventually uncovered an underground archive beneath the estate. Its rooms contained cabinets filled with documents collected from various research institutions, including several previously associated with the cult.

One section held records of unsuccessful experiments involving unusual magical phenomena. Another contained historical reports concerning individuals who had experienced Distortion.

Several documents immediately attracted Laurent’s attention.

They described patients who reported hearing an unfamiliar woman’s voice before their magical conditions deteriorated.

The accounts came from different regions and involved individuals with unrelated backgrounds. Nevertheless, certain descriptions appeared repeatedly. Some patients claimed that the voice offered sympathy, while others described feeling unusually understood by someone they couldn’t see.

Several reports suggested that the woman encouraged affected individuals to embrace desires they had previously suppressed.

Laurent understood why Reinhold might have found the accounts interesting, although the similarities alone proved little. The researcher could have deliberately selected cases that supported his theories while ignoring contradictory evidence.

The inspector therefore ordered a complete review of the archive, including any records Reinhold had excluded from his conclusions.

After Saint Aurelia, the Bureau had little patience for scholars who treated speculation as established fact.

The recovered documents were secured and transferred for examination.

Among the specialists contacted was Doctor Henri Valmont, whose experience treating magical instability made him a suitable consultant.

Unfortunately, the physician was currently treating a patient whose symptoms resembled several of the reported cases.

Professor Antoine Chastellain.

Valmont received the Bureau’s request that afternoon. He agreed to examine the documents but refused to disclose confidential patient information, explaining that his professional obligations remained unchanged regardless of the investigation’s importance.

Laurent accepted the restriction.

The Bureau could benefit from the physician’s expertise without involving an unrelated patient in a criminal inquiry.

However, Valmont recognized several details in the recovered accounts.

The descriptions of a comforting female voice, emotional persuasion, and encouragement to abandon magical restraints were remarkably similar to Antoine’s recent experiences.

The physician decided to discuss the findings with him during their scheduled consultation.

Antoine listened carefully as Valmont explained that other individuals had reported comparable symptoms during periods of severe magical instability.

“Then I’m not the only person who has heard her?”

“You’re certainly not alone in reporting such experiences. Whether the voices described in those cases share a common cause is another matter.”

“Did any of those people recover?”

“Several did. There are documented cases of patients whose symptoms subsided without progressing to Distortion.”

The answer relieved Antoine, although Valmont also explained that some historical cases had ended badly. Researchers still lacked a reliable method of predicting every outcome, which made careful observation and treatment essential.

Antoine accepted the explanation, but his curiosity had already been awakened.

He wanted to examine the reports personally.

Valmont declined.

“Professor, you’re recovering from a condition that may be aggravated by the very subject you’re asking to investigate. I understand your interest, but I would rather you concentrate on treatment for now.”

“Then how am I supposed to understand what’s happening to me?”

“By asking questions and working with the people treating you. You don’t need to conduct an independent investigation into every symptom.”

Antoine found the restriction frustrating, although he couldn’t dispute the physician’s reasoning. He eventually agreed to postpone examining the documents until Valmont considered him sufficiently stable.

By evening, Ilya arrived for his scheduled visit.

He had already received an official update concerning the raid through SkyRune. The Bureau had recovered valuable evidence, although Reinhold remained missing and the investigators were still examining the estate’s records.

“At least they’re making progress,” Ilya remarked. “The cult’s associates are running out of places to hide.”

Antoine agreed, although his attention remained fixed on the documents Valmont had mentioned.

Ilya noticed the handwritten observations scattered across his desk and quickly understood what had happened.

“Doctor Valmont refused to let you examine the reports?”

“For the moment.”

“That’s unfortunate. I was hoping someone would finally explain how it feels to be on the receiving end of your own academic restrictions.”

Antoine gave an amused sigh.

“I don’t recall being particularly unreasonable with my students.”

“Then your memory is recovering less successfully than the rest of you.”

The professor laughed before explaining why the recovered cases interested him.

For years, he had investigated magical phenomena that other scholars dismissed as impractical. Now he had encountered something affecting his own body, and the possibility that others had experienced similar symptoms was difficult to ignore.

Ilya understood his curiosity. Nevertheless, reading disturbing historical accounts while recovering from severe emotional trauma seemed unlikely to improve his condition.

He suggested requesting the reviewed documents once Valmont considered it safe.

Antoine accepted the compromise, and their conversation turned toward SkyRune’s continuing work.

The workshop’s new initiative had begun organizing its existing findings, while the senior researchers handled projects that required no additional Imperial authorization.

For a while, the professor appeared genuinely interested in ordinary academic matters.

However, after Ilya departed, the mysterious woman’s voice returned.

“You wanted to read those reports.”

Antoine recognized her immediately. He had been preparing to continue his book when the words reached him, spoken with the same gentle familiarity he remembered from their earlier encounters.

He remained silent.

“You’re curious about me, aren’t you? That’s understandable. You’ve spent your entire life searching for answers, and now you’ve encountered something your books can’t explain.”

Antoine remembered Valmont’s instructions, although the woman’s willingness to discuss herself made the temptation to respond stronger than usual.

Until now, she had mostly spoken about Lucile and his grief.

Her own existence had remained a mystery.

“You don’t have to be frightened,” she continued. “I know you’re worried about what might happen if you listen. But have I ever tried to hurt you?”

The professor recalled the uncontrolled manifestations that had accompanied their earlier conversations. Whatever the woman claimed, encouraging him to indulge those episodes could have serious consequences.

He concentrated on maintaining his composure.

However, a question escaped him.

“Then why are you here?”

The woman sounded pleased that he had finally responded.

“Because you’re suffering, Antoine. You’ve been carrying so much pain, and everyone keeps telling you to endure it. They’re worried about what might happen if you stop holding yourself together.”

Her words stirred memories of Saint Aurelia.

Antoine remembered the endless negotiations, the desperate attempts to enter the school, and the moment he learned that Lucile was gone. He had spent those final hours believing the Imperial Guard might still save her.

Even now, he sometimes caught himself wondering whether another decision could have changed the outcome.

The woman continued speaking with quiet sympathy.

“You’ve always been responsible. You think about your students, your colleagues, and everyone who depends on you. Even after losing your daughter, you’re still trying to protect other people.”

Antoine understood that she was appealing to the very responsibilities that made him reluctant to abandon his treatment.

Nevertheless, the words affected him.

He was exhausted from constantly managing his emotions, monitoring his magic, and worrying that another disturbance might endanger someone nearby.

The woman seemed to recognize that exhaustion.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to stop carrying all that pain for a little while?”

Antoine remembered the image of Lucile that had appeared above her communication device. He had seen his daughter sitting at their workshop table, absorbed in one of her inventions.

The image had lasted only a few seconds before he suppressed it.

Yet he remembered every detail.

“I know what you’re thinking,” the woman said gently. “You want to see her again.”

Antoine closed his eyes.

Of course he did.

There was nothing he wanted more than another afternoon with Lucile, listening to her excited explanations and watching her discover something new.

However, his magic had merely reproduced an image from his memories. No matter how convincing it appeared, the real Lucile was gone.

“I won’t lose control,” he answered.

“Then don’t. Nobody is asking you to be reckless.”

The reply surprised him.

The woman continued before he could respond.

“You’re a brilliant scholar. Surely you understand that something unfamiliar doesn’t have to be dangerous simply because other people fear it.”

Antoine recognized the argument. It was remarkably similar to the advice he had given countless students throughout his career.

That made it difficult to dismiss immediately.

Nevertheless, he reminded himself that the manifestations had already demonstrated their potential to become dangerous. Understanding a phenomenon required careful investigation, and his current condition made independent experimentation irresponsible.

“I’ll wait until my physician considers it safe.”

The woman laughed softly.

“Very well. You’re allowed to be careful.”

Her presence gradually weakened, but she left him with another question.

“When you hear your daughter’s laughter again, will you really want to silence it?”

Antoine didn’t answer.

After the room fell quiet, he opened the medical notebook Valmont had provided and recorded their conversation, including the woman’s willingness to acknowledge his caution.

He also documented the temptation he had experienced while remembering Lucile.

The report was thorough, although writing it brought little relief.

He understood that the voice was influencing his emotions, and he had successfully resisted her encouragement.

However, her arguments were becoming harder to dismiss because they increasingly resembled conclusions he might have reached himself.

Antoine closed the notebook and prepared for bed, intending to discuss the incident with Valmont in the morning.

Meanwhile, Inspector Laurent received another report from the provincial investigators.

The abandoned foundation associated with Falkenrath had maintained a secondary account under an unrelated commercial name. Several payments from that account had been transferred to a private estate registered to a deceased noble family.

Although the property had supposedly been abandoned for years, recent deliveries suggested that someone was still using it.

The address also appeared in Reinhold’s recovered correspondence.

Laurent immediately ordered surveillance of the property and instructed his officers to determine whether the occupants had any connection to the missing Saint Aurelia records.

The investigation had uncovered another promising lead, and the Bureau intended to act before anyone involved could disappear.